Enough. Ready as I'll ever be, off to the other side of Lehigh Gap. Ken's banter on the way over has an underlying theme of tips for the hike, concerns about my ability to do it. Well, yes, but I have a headlamp if it takes more than ten hours, and a ceĺl phone if I need to call for a pickup.
The climb up the west side is gentler than the eastern cliff, and I average two and a half mph up to the ridge rubble. Yes, more rocks.
Bake Oven Knob at noon lives up to its name, but my water supply holds out.
Skipping along the tops of the boulders in the trail is easier than yesterday because the rocks are larger and flatter, more like the arroyo boulders that my sister Laurie and I used to scramble over in Arizona during our childhood. Still, ankles, calves, and toes grow sore.
A quick lunch, and up onto the rock pile known as the Knife's Edge. Some overzealous person has painted the white blazes for us to follow along the very top of that edge, which makes progress interesting.
Balancing on narrow rock ledges being an issue, I was glad that my pack weight was below 30 pounds.
In the end, I finished fifteen miles of rocky trail in seven hours. I count that as a personal victory!
Tomorrow, westbound again with a full pack. Goal: Port Clinton and crossing the Schuylkill River on September 27th.
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